Canada’s Health Minister met with dentists Thursday to address concerns about the Canadian Dental Care Plan as the Alberta Dental Association questioned whether enough dentists will sign up to provide care when the plan begins for seniors in May.
Eligible seniors will be able to access oral health care treatment through the plan (CDCP) starting in May; Applications have been open since December for those 87 and older, and for additional age groups in the months after. Starting this month, people ages 70 and older are eligible to apply, and those ages 65 to 69 will be able to sign up in May.
Dr. Jenny Doerksen, president of the Alberta Dental Association, says Ottawa has not yet provided enough details.
On Thursday he met with the federal Minister of Health, along with representatives of dental associations from across the country.
“Why do they put up barriers by introducing the concept of registration and contracts with unknown terms and conditions? We didn’t get a very clear answer to this question,” Doerksen said.
Dentists resist the idea of signing contracts to join the program and are also concerned about imposing more paperwork on administrative staff.
Doerksen said Canada’s dentists support the idea of a national public dental care plan, but calls the current plan flawed.
“The main concern is that, unlike other programs, this particular Canadian dental care plan asks dentists to sign a contract with no terms or conditions,” Doerksen said.
“These are unnecessary and unknown to us and really interfere with patients’ autonomy to choose their own dentist,” he said.
A spokesman for Health Minister Mark Holland says he had a “productive” meeting with dentists on Thursday.
The latest health and medical news is sent to you by email every Sunday.
“Oral health providers are essential to the success of the CDCP. That is why our government is committed to working with them to explore ways to reduce barriers so that all oral health professionals can provide services to patients under the CDCP.”
The spokesperson said in a statement: “the ‘contract’ Dr. Doerksen refers to is a payment and claims processing agreement, which is an industry standard for direct billing.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t say that there is additional information, so I am still in the same boat as a few months ago. I’m not sure how the Canadian dental plan will be implemented. “I’m not sure how this will impact our patients, our practice and our staff,” Doerksen said.
Laura Woods is an independent dental hygienist working in long-term care facilities in Calgary.
She has been advising seniors to consider hygienists who can provide a wide range of services.
“We let them know that this is not the end of the road and that there are several oral health care providers who have participated in the program. They have access to both an independent dentist and hygienist throughout Alberta to help them,” Woods said.
He said the program is in its infancy and he has been speaking at care centers to let people know more about the program.
“If they can’t find a dentist, they can look for an independent dental hygienist. We have a wide range of practice in Alberta. We can do tests and x-rays and we can diagnose and help refer. We can help find people to participate in that program,” Woods said.
“I know a lot of seniors right now, with the rising cost of everything, will do without dental care to be able to pay their daily bills,” said Jeannette Provo, executive director of the Confederation Park 55+ Activity Center in Calgary. “They will possibly end up in urgent care or possibly in the hospital to have their needs taken care of because they can’t necessarily afford to pay a dentist.”
Provo said the plan could be very beneficial for seniors.
“I’m a little disappointed that dentists aren’t signing up. I also understand it from their perspective: they have a business to run. I think dentists need to have more clarity before moving forward with this,” Provo said.
To be eligible under the plan, Canadians must not have access to dental insurance, have an annual adjusted net household income of less than $90,000, be a Canadian resident for tax purposes, and have filed a tax return for the previous year.
Letters have been sent to eligible Canadians aged 70 and older to apply to the CDCP, which provides a code so they can apply by phone.
There is also a copay for those with net household income between $70,000 and $90,000.
The national program will eventually apply to a quarter of Canadians, but is being rolled out gradually, starting with seniors first.
An interim dental plan covers children under 12 years of age.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
